Transformers: Aftermath
by reptilia28
Summary: Two years after the Battle for the Allspark, the Decepticons return to Earth with one thing on their minds: revenge. Featuring familiar names on both sides, and an enemy with power rivaling Megatron's. Movieverse, SamMikaela. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

I saw the Transformers movie a few weeks ago, and I loved it. And with the rise of decent movieverse fics, I decided to write my own. Hopefully this will do better than my last attempt at a Transformers fic (seriously, two reviews and less than two hundred hits isn't very encouraging).

And for those who are against the Allspark reformatting Megatron, don't worry. In this fic, Megatron is dead and will stay dead.

I don't own Transformers. That belongs to Hasbro.

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"My name is Optimus Prime, and I send this message out to all surviving Autobots seeking refuge among the stars: We are here... and we are waiting." Optimus Prime sighed as he finished the transmission, and took in his surroundings. He and his fellow Autobots Ratchet, Ironhide and Bumblebee, as well as their new human friends Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes, who where currently kissing each other on top of Bumblebee's hood, were standing on a clifftop where Bumblebee said he had taken Sam and Mikaela when the young boy had first bought him. Optimus shifted his optics to the sunset, happy that he had found a new home for his people, but at the same time, worry festered in his spark. _Starscream is still out there,_ he thought,_ as is Barricade, and whoever else may have snuck onto this planet. We will need to be alert, and keep one sensor always pointed to the heavens, for our allies…and our enemies._ He looked down at Sam and Mikaela, who were now simply watching the sunset in each others arms. _We have achieved a great victory today, one we never thought possible. Let them have their moment of peace; it would not do to burden them now._ Optimus sat down on the ground, and gears cranked and plates shifted as Optimus transformed into his semi truck form and watched the sunset silently with his friends.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Los Angeles, the Decepticon scientist Barricade was in a fouler mood than usual.

"Hold still, Frenzy, before I weld your mandibles shut," he grumbled, delicately holding a welding rod. "On second thought, that wouldn't be such a bad idea." Adding some final adjustments, he set down the tool and stepped back. The five foot tall Decepticon known as Frenzy sat straight up, feelings his face, and particularly the large scar that ran down the right side of it, where his head was bifurcated by his own ricocheting shuriken.

"Fil-fil-filthy humans, I will ri-ri-rip them to little bloody pieces!" the tiny robot chattered, his voice box damaged by the blow. While Frenzy continued to rant about how he would make the humans suffer a slow and painful demise, Barricade tapped into the Decepticon radiowave frequency to contact the only other sentient Decepticon on the planet.

"This is chief science officer Barricade, contacting Wreckage," he said into his communication array. "Do you hear me, Wreckage?"

In a military base somewhere in New Mexico, a uniformed man with a moustache flickered into the driver's seat of an M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle as the Decepticon it was disguising activated.

"This is Wreckage," the Decepticon said in a near whisper. "What is the situation?" Barricade hesitated to respond.

"The situation is, as the…_humans_," Barricade snarled, saying "human" as if it were the most profane of words, "would say, is FUBAR. Bonecrusher, Blackout and Devastator are all destroyed, Starscream has fled like the coward he is, and our leader Megatron has been vanquished. The Allspark has been lost as well." Wreckage was silent as he processed this disconcerting information, then he responded.

"A coward though Starscream may be, he will still want to crush the Autobots and humans for destroying the Allspark. No doubt he has returned to the Nemesis and is currently flying back to Cybertron to gain new troops. All we have to do is wait for his arrival." Barricade snorted at Wreckage's calm demeanor.

"Can you wait that long, Wreckage?" Barricade asked mockingly. Humorless laughter emerged from the other end of the line.

"Of course I can wait. The question is, Barricade, can you?" Before Barricade could answer, Wreckage severed the connection and went back into stasis, leaving the other Decepticon in a very foul mood, which grew expotentially from Frenzy's chattering.

"SILENCE!" he roared, and Frenzy immediately froze in terror.

Several thousand light years away from Earth, on the planet of Charii-7, the Autobot sharpshooter Arcee was placing explosive charges on a machine referred to by the local Decepticon scientists as the "sun buster", which she had spent Primus knew how many decacycles trying to track down before it was completed, when she heard a distorted transmission over her communication link.

"_This is...Prime...all surviving Autobots...stars...We are here...are waiting_..." Optimus's voice said over the crackling static, along with specific coordinates to his transmission location. Despite the very dangerous task she was currently doing, Arcee couldn't help but smile. _Looks like the old guy did it after all_, she thought as she armed the last charge. Setting the timer to ten cycles, she transformed into her Cybertronian cycle mode and revved out of the facility at top speed. Now all she needed to do was get the slag out of there before it blew. And a ship. Definitely needed to find a ship. With transwarp technology. No problem.

Though Starscream would never admit it out loud, especially with someone else in the room, the flying Decepticon had to face a cruel reality.

He shouldn't have left alone.

Managing the giant Decepticon warship known as the DSFC Nemesis on its journey back to Cybertron by himself was beginning to tax his systems, and couldn't wait until he reached his home planet_. The first place I'm going when we land is into stasis_, Starscream thought bitterly to himself as he adjusted the navigation programs. _A nice long recharge cycle will do me good_. Finding a time to sit idle, he thought about who he would recruit to bring back to Earth. _Soundwave, a good idea, although he'd probably have my head...no wait, _Barricade's_ head for damaging Frenzy while on loan from him_._ Thundercracker, he could serve useful. Skywarp? His talent is useful, but he's a complete idiot; he can stay_. Starscream's mind drifted to one Decepticon who would be particularly angry at Megatron's demise. Starscream ultimately decided to tell him and hope that the angry Decepticon in question would aim his weapons at the Autobots and not at _him_.

"**COOLANT LEAK IN SECTOR DELTA-FOUR**," a female mechanical voice sounded, followed by alarms blaring and lights flashing. Starscream sighed as he sat up to slow down the ship and fix the leak. This was going to be a long flight.

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Okay, this set up all the various scenarios that will show up in later chapters.

I hope you enjoyed this prologue.

Please read and review. Remember, reviews next chapter faster.


	2. Chapter 2

Five reviews…eh, it's better than nothing.

This is mostly an introductory chapter for the new Autobots.

Also, as I don't watch the news, I don't know if there's an actual reporter out there named Julie Stofer, just so you know.

I don't own Transformers…I wasn't even born when it was made.

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The night sky seemed to glow as five Autobots in their transition forms plummeted their way to Earth, the friction of their descent igniting the air. Sending communiqués to each other through their inter-Autobot communicators, they aligned their descents so that they could land relatively close to one another.

That night, five meteors struck the landscape of Nevada, and disappeared without a trace.

Sam Witwicky slowly stirred into consciousness, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and feeling a desperate urge to go to the bathroom. After quietly slipping out of bed and relieving himself, Sam smiled lovingly at the woman still lying in his bed. It had been almost two years to the day since Sam and Mikaela Banes had become a couple. When they both graduated from high school and moved to Nevada, they decided that they should live together.

Sam thought back to two years before, during the fight in Los Angeles between the Transformers, where Captain Lennox told him, "You're a soldier now." Even after the battle had ended, the words moved Sam so deeply that in a move that surprised both his friends and his parents, Sam enlisted for the army almost immediately after he graduated. Sure, the boot camp was hell, but it brought him closer to his Autobot friends. The free college and housing was nice too.

A soft buzzing brought Sam out of his thoughts and he quickly and awkwardly fumbled to dig his cell phone out of his pants pocket.

"Hello?" he whispered as he walked into the living room.

"Good morning, sunshine," the familiar voice of the now Major Lennox sang on the other line, before he became serious. "Have you seen the news yet?"

"No, sir," Sam said, frowning in confusion.

"You better do so; it's got some interesting shit on there," Lennox said. Sam picked up the television remote and turned it on to a news channel, where a news anchor was standing in front of a large trench in the desert ground.

"…Experts are at a loss as how to explain this phenomenon," the reporter said. "This event is similar to an incident two years ago, when four large meteors crashed in the west coast simultaneously. Now, with five more collisions here in the state of Nevada, panic is beginning to grip the people. Members of various churches throughout the state are claiming that this is a sign of Judgement Day, and astrologists cannot explain their sudden appearance and disappearance. More will be reported as it appears. I'm Julie Stofer, Fox two news." Sam stood in the living room, jaw hanging slack at the report.

"Hello?" Lennox asked. "Hello? Sammy? Anyone there?" Sam shook his head to clear the shock that had gripped him.

"I need to call Optimus," Sam said quickly.

"You do that kid," Lennox said before hanging up. Sam immediately started punching numbers on his cell phone.

The United States government had recently constructed a haven for the Autobots to retreat to for shelter and privacy, and was as large as an old missile silo. They chose the desert lands of Nevada because it would be the perfect place to hide a large construct underground. One of the features that came with the bunker was a private telephone line to contact the Autobots in case of emergency.

"How can I help you, Sam?" the deep baritone voice of Optimus Prime asked from the other end.

"Hey, Optimus, have you seen the news this morning?" Sam asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

"You mean the report of five meteors striking the Earth, and then mysteriously disappearing in one night?" Optimus asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I have seen it, and do not worry, Sam, for they are all friends." This news nearly rendered Sam speechless again.

"H-how do you know?" Sam asked, wiping sweat off of his brow.

"Immediately after they landed, they contacted me through our interconnected communications array; they are all people that I know well. Most of them are already here, so you and Mikaela can come to meet them at your earliest convenience. I believe that you haven't commenced your weekly visit to us yet," Optimus explained. Sam chuckled, embarrassed.

"Yeah, things have been a bit hectic at work lately. We'll swing by after Miki wakes up and we have breakfast," Sam said.

"I await your arrival, Sam. Optimus out." Sam flipped his cell phone closed and walked into the kitchen to cook breakfast. Sam placed a pan on the stove while he dug through the fridge to pull out a carton of eggs and a package of bacon. After the pan got hot enough, Sam laid some bacon onto the pan, enjoying the smell and sizzling sound that permeated throughout the house. As Sam plated the first batch of bacon, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and a soft voice whispering in his ear.

"I knew there was a reason I moved in with you," Mikaela said tiredly, the bacon smell making her mouth water. Sam chuckled as he cracked an egg into the pan.

"Yes, my bacon and eggs are to die for," he said teasingly. Mikaela hummed in amusement as she gently kissed his shoulder.

"What was the phone call about?" she asked as Sam finished plating the eggs.

"Lennox called; there was a report of more meteor strikes. I called Optimus, and he said that they're all Autobots," Sam said as he carried the plates to the table. "I told him that we'd swing by and visit after breakfast," he added as they sat down.

"It's good that more are coming," Mikaela said while she ate. "I'm sure that the Autobots are getting bored with just the four of them and our visits." Sam just shrugged, and they finished their meal in silence. After they ate, Mikaela kissed Sam while he gathered the dishes. "I'm going to take a shower before we leave." Sam grinned cheekily at her.

"Want to save time and we'll take one together?" he asked. Mikaela thought about the offer for a moment.

"As tempting as your offer is, I highly doubt we'd save any time, so no. Maybe next time," she said, kissing him again before she headed into the bathroom. Snapping his fingers in disappointment, Sam placed the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and went into their bedroom to get dressed.

Thirty minutes later, Sam and Mikaela climbed into the yellow '09 Camaro that disguised their Autobot guardian Bumblebee.

"How are you, 'Bee?" Sam asked as he turned the key in the ignition.

"I am doing well, Sam," Bumblebee said. "I am currently conducting research over the World Wide Web about odorous emissions from cooked pieces of porcine belly meat and its connection to the pleasure centers of the brain." Sam just stared blankly at the dashboard.

"Normal person English, please?" Sam said dumbly. Mikaela laughed at her boyfriend's antics.

"He's trying to figure out why we think bacon smells good," she said between giggles. Sam's eyes widened in realization.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Sam demanded to the car he was sitting in. The car vibrated slightly as Bumblebee chuckled.

"I find it amusing to confuse you," he said simply, which made Mikaela laugh harder. Sam glared at them darkly before backing out of the driveway.

"Ha, ha, laugh it up, you two," he grumbled as he drove down the road and into the desert. After a few minutes of driving, Sam looked down at Bumblebee. "Hey, 'Bee, you wouldn't happen to know who the new arrivals are, do you?" he asked.

"Negative," Bumblebee said. "I spoke to Optimus about it, and he said that he wanted it to be a surprise. He said that Ratchet was the only other one who knew, since he was working on something there when they arrived." Sighing, Sam tapped the radio button and they listened to a rock station the rest of the ride over.

Bumblebee slowed to a stop when Sam saw a man in his mid thirties sitting in a large black pickup truck, which sat idle in the middle of the desert.

"Good morning, sir," Sam said, saluting him. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Hey, guys," Lennox said, waving back. "I just got here a few minutes ago. I think 'Hide's been looking forward to today."

"Anything to get away from that loud, annoying brat," Ironhide grumbled.

"Hey, no bad-mouthing my little Annie!" Lennox yelled to the truck. Before Ironhide could respond, the ground rumbled as a large section of it slowly raised itself and broke away to reveal a lift that could fit a small convoy on it. Bumblebee and Ironhide slowly rolled onto the platform, and the ground shook as it lowered them below the surface, the sunlight being cut off by large shields of metal.

The humans climbed out of their vehicles, and they transformed back into their robot forms. The lights flickered on to show the towering red-and-blue form of Optimus Prime towering above them with a smile on his face.

"Bumblebee, Ironhide, Sam, Mikaela, Major Lennox, it is good to see you all," the Autobot leader said. "If you would please come with me, we will meet our new companions." The giant robot turned and stomped off into the depths of base, his guests following with varying degrees of difficulty.

They entered a large room, about the size of a military hangar, with several vehicles lined up in a row. Sam noticed that among them was a jet that didn't look like anything he had ever seen on Earth. Optimus stopped and faced the makeshift convoy of vehicles and stood tall.

"Autobots, transform!" Optimus ordered. With a symphony of gears cranking and metal plates shifting echoing throughout the room, where once stood five vehicles now stood five robots of varying heights.

"Soldiers, meet Sam Witwicky, Mikaela Banes and Major William Lennox. They are three of Earth's finest warriors, and I owe them my life and my loyalty, for they are the ones who bested the Decepticons in battle and triumphed over Megatron." The Autobots looked at the three sheepish humans with awe and disbelief.

"Wait a nanoclick," an Autobot that transformed into a Jeep Wrangler said, holding up his finger. "You're saying that these puny fleshbags are the ones who scrapped Megatron?" he asked incredulously.

"Hey!" Sam yelled, offended.

"My probability processors indicate that the chances of a being with a body as fragile as yours successfully defeating a Cybertronian as powerful as Megatron and surviving are 10,345,410,249 to one against," a red-and-white Autobot who transformed into an alien jet said stiffly. He bent his head down at Sam, who suddenly became nervous when the faceless robot looked at him. "I commend you three, for you are very fortunate indeed to have bested such odds."

"Ah, Jetfire, always the analyst," a purple Autobot that transformed from a motorcycle said in a feminine tone. "Even I take a break to have fun once in a while." Jetfire shifted his gaze to look at the female robot with a blank look.

"I assure you, Arcee, the work that I do is what I consider…'fun' as you say. Any time devoted to recreational activities is time that I could be spending trying to improve our survival and well-being." Arcee merely shook her head at Jetfire's dismissal of her attempts to get him to relax. Lennox looked at Arcee confusedly.

"So, you're a girl robot?" he asked. Arcee shrugged her shoulders.

"We Cybertronians do not have genders as you know them, but yes, I am programmed with a feminine personality," Arcee said.

"Still doesn't mean she's a pushover," a towering Autobot that transformed into a tandem rotor helicopter grunted. "She's one of the best snipers ever constructed. Me, I prefer to get up close and personal to my enemies. It gives you a feeling of satisfaction when you feel your opponents go crunch underneath your fist." A blue-and-white robot that looked eerily similar to Optimus made a sound that Sam could only describe as a derisive snort.

"I would know," the robot said. "You had a criminal report that stood almost as high as you do; I wrote most of them." Bumblebee noticed the humans' look of confusion, so he got down on his knees so that they could hear him whisper.

"That's Ultra Magnus," the yellow Autobot explained. "Back on Cybertron, he used to be a high-level law enforcer. I believe he would be the equivalent of your police chief. And the other one is Blades. He used to be what you would call a professional wrestler, but he frequently got himself into trouble because of his habit for causing fights outside the ring." While the Autobots continued talking amongst themselves, Jetfire noticed several lines of text scrolling across his vision.

"Optimus, I am detecting energy emission levels similar to an exposed spark in the vicinity," he said informally. Before the Autobot leader could ask to elaborate, a cold voice laughed behind them.

"Aww, how cute, a little Autobot reunion, how touching," the voice said sarcastically. Everyone automatically armed their weapons and pointed them in the direction of the voice, and were all shocked as to whom the intruder was.

"Starscream?" Optimus said incredulously.

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Dun-dun-dun-duuuuuuuun! That's the second chapter.

Hope you liked it.

Don't forget to read and review!

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These are the bios of the new Autobots. The Decepticons will be in the next chapter.

Name: Arcee

Alt. mode: 2006 Buell Firebolt XB12R motorcycle

Weapon: Energy crossbow

Brief blurb: Ranked as one of the top ten Autobot snipers and sharpshooters in recent memory, they say that Arcee could shoot a robo-fly off of a turbofox's ear from a hundred meters. While she is very dedicated to her job, she also knows that sometimes, you need to relax and have some fun once in a while.

Name: Blades

Alt. mode: CH-46 Sea Knight tandem rotor helicopter

Weapon: Dual spinning blades/swords (mounted on back when not in use)

Brief blurb: A former professional wrestler back on Cybertron, Blades uses his penchant for hand-to-hand pummeling and massive size to great effect on the battle field. He loves fighting fisticuffs so much that he abandons ranged weapons for his blades and his fists.

Name: Ultra Magnus

Alt. mode: Freightliner car carrier

Weapon: Ion blaster rifle

Brief blurb: A former Autobot law enforcer, Ultra Magnus believes in following rules and protocol, although he will never disobey a direct order from a superior. His trailer cannot transform, so he installed a small remote-controlled droid to carry it away from the battle when he transforms.

Name: Jetfire

Alt. mode: Cybertronian jet

Weapon: Laser assault rifle; EM stun blasters

Brief blurb: A former Decepticon scientist and aerial fighter, Jetfire is regarded with varying degrees of mistrust by his comrades. Outfitted with the latest technologies, his primary skill is the ability to turn invisible in vehicle mode. Due to his crash location and the fact that he worked too long on his body to give it up, Jetfire chose not to take an Earth vehicle alternate mode.

Name: Brawn

Alt. mode: Jeep Wrangler

Weapon: Arm-integrated missile launchers

Brief blurb: Brawn is the…brawn of the Autobots. While he does not share Ironhide's knowledge of advanced weaponry, he certainly enjoys using them. In Brawn's eyes, the bigger an explosion a particular object can create, the more he'll want to get his hands on it.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow! Eleven reviews last chapter! That's nearly twice what the first chapter brought in.

I hope you guys like this chapter as much as you evidently liked the last.

I don't own Transformers. I am sad.

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"Starscream?" Optimus said incredulously. All the Autobots kept their weapons trained on the Decepticon, and even Sam and Lennox drew their sidearms, for all the good they would do.

"What the slag are you doing here?" Ironhide growled, just itching to fire his cannons. Starscream let out a cold, shrieking laugh.

"Believe it or not, Autobot scum, I'm here to warn you," the jet transformer said dryly. "In approximately three Earth days, the _Nemesis_ will arrive with a crew of Decepticons larger than the previous strike force. I'm thinking at least ten crew members, and you still have Barricade and Wreckage to contend with." Optimus knew that it would be unwise to trust a character like Starscream, but the threat of a warship full of Decepticons could not be ignored.

"Why should we believe you?" Ironhide "spat" at Starscream. Starscream chuckled as he began to pace back and forth across the room, the Autobots' weapons following him.

"Because I was there when I saw it being launched," Starscream said slowly, as if speaking to a small child. "I would have been part of the crew, but there were some…complications."

"What kind of 'complications?'" Optimus asked.

"The painful kind," Starscream said, stopping his pacing and spreading his arms out. "Shoot me." Optimus' optics widened at the suicidal request. Before he could respond, though, Ironhide shot a round from one of his cannons, which flew through Starscream's chest and impacted the wall behind him.

"Ironhide!" Optimus admonished his weapons master loudly.

"He asked for it," the black Autobot said, shrugging. Shaking his head, Optimus turned back to Starscream, who showed no signs of damage at all. Optimus realized the futility of trying to destroy him, and reluctantly ordered his troops to stand down.

"Who did this to you?" Optimus asked. Starscream's bird-like face shifted into a twisted grin.

"The same one who's leading the Decepticons right now," Starscream said vaguely. "I think you know who."

"It can't be, he shouldn't exist," Optimus gasped quietly at the implication, while Sam looked up in confusion.

"Oh, I assure you, he is very much real," Starscream said.

"What's he talking about?" Sam asked Bumblebee, who shook his head negatively.

"Later, Sam," the camaro transformer said. Sighing, Sam turned his attention back to Starscream.

"In three days, you will be facing an army, led by the one Decepticon who is superior to Megatron, and you had to use the Allspark to destroy our dear leader. How will you get out of this mess?" he asked rhetorically.

"Why are you doing this?" Optimus asked. Starscream smirked as he slowly stomped his way towards the Autobot leader, his footsteps not making a sound as he walked.

"I normally wouldn't, but _he_ destroyed me, so I'm willing to put aside my…political grudges to give you a fair warning. But I have one thing to ask of you." By now, the Decepticon traitor was mere inches from the Autobot leader. "Destroy him. Annihilate his body and grind the scrap into the dust. Make him pay for what he did to me." His warning sent, Starscream turned around and stomped away. Halfway to the far wall, his body became transparent, and arcs of energy were surging inside of him, and he eventually faded away completely. Optimus turned to the humans, who were trying to understand the conversation that had just passed.

"Major Lennox, you will have to contact Secretary of Defense Keller, as well as the President of the United States. If what Starscream says is true, then we must prepare. Tell all your orbital scanners to keep their eyes to the stars, for the sooner we spot the _Nemesis_, the sooner we can mount a counterstrike. I will download the schematics of the _Nemesis_ into a more efficient carrying tool so your people will know what to look for. Now hurry!" Bumblebee and Ironhide immediately transformed into their vehicle modes, and their human charges climbed inside before they rolled onto the lifting platform. As soon as they reached the surface, the two Autobots peeled out and zoomed into the desert.

"Okay, 'Bee, cough up, what was that all about?" Sam asked once they started moving. Bumblebee hesitated for a moment before reluctantly answering him.

"Some time before we jettisoned the Allspark, we had heard rumors from our spies in the Decepticon underground that Megatron had constructed a Transformer on his own, instead of a specialized factory like one normally would. It was also said that, instead of going to the Allspark to give this blank body life, Megatron downloaded a modified copy of his original core programming into the body," Bumblebee explained.

"So…Megatron 2.0?" Mikaela offered.

"I believe that would be an effective analogy," the camaro agreed. "This new transformer was more powerful and more ruthless than his creator. But despite all that, we could never confirm its existence."

"Okay, but apparently, if Starscream's telling the truth, then that means that he's real. So, what are we looking at here?" Sam asked.

"His alternate forms were never known, nor was much else, but it was said that he was had two alternate forms, which was a technological advancement we had just begun looking into before the war started, so it was very rare. In fact, the only other thing that people knew was his name." Bumblebee went quiet after that, as if debating with himself whether he should reveal it.

"'Bee?" Sam drawled. "What is the name of Megatron 2.0?" Bumblebee let out a resigned sigh.

"Many called him the Dark Prince of Cybertron, but his true name, the one given to him by his father, is Galvatron."

The next day, Secretary of Defense John Keller stood before the top astronomers from around the world, all wondering why they were summoned there.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have received intelligence that a ship full of hostile alien invaders will arrive in our solar system within two days time. Your job is to constantly scan both local and deep space and hopefully find this ship before its occupants can reach us. If you do spot it, contact the United States government immediately. All necessary information is in your packages. Good luck, and Godspeed." While the various astronomers climbed out of theirs seats to return to work, Keller walked out of sight, where Lennox was waiting. "Major, are you sure we can trust this Starscream fellow?"

"Not really, sir," Lennox sighed, "but the threat of another Decepticon invasion, probably bigger than the last time, is very serious. Last time, we only won because Private Witwicky killed their leader with their Life-O-Matic, but now we don't have it, so we're going to have to take a leap of faith on this one."

"I hope that this guy's wrong, and he's just trying to pull a fast one on us," Keller said grimly.

"I hope so too, sir."

Two days later, the giant Decepticon warship _DSFC Nemesis_ exited transwarp space near Saturn. It cruised along at sublight speed until it drifted to a stop near Mars, where it hid last time. Several crew members suggested that they simply bombard the planet from space, but Galvatron insisted on taking on the humans and Autobots face-to-face. Transforming into their transition modes, the Decepticons drifted their way towards their destination: Earth.

"Sir, we've got something!" a nameless soldier panted to U.S. Air Force general John Matthews, waving a piece of paper in his face. General Matthews snatched the paper out of the soldier's hands and glanced at it. It contained the approximated landing points of eight distinct meteors of varying sizes landing in the United States, and one of them was heading straight for them.

"Roll out the surface-to-air missiles," General Matthews ordered. "I want these goddamn things turned to ash before they hit the ground! Move!" Within minutes, dozens of their most powerful surface-to-air missiles filled the air, all soaring towards the meteor bearing on their position.

"Impact in ten, nine, eight…" a technician counted down. Everybody watched nervously as the missiles flew higher into space. "…three, two, one, impact." A large explosion filled the air as the missiles impacted the meteor. A minute later, the same technician shook his head negatively. "We have negative on successful destruction, bogey is still on course, impacting in five minutes."

"_Shit_!" General Matthews swore loudly. He turned and pointed to a random officer. "Order everyone to load anything capable of firing a bullet with Sabot rounds, now!" As the officer ran off the fufill the order, General Matthews could do nothing but watch the alien meteor descend helplessly.

Five minutes later, the base had been cleared out and all vehicles and personnel laid on the outskirts of the premises. Within seconds, a giant fireball came down from the sky and impacted the base, destroying several buildings. The soldiers immediately ran to the impact site and started blasting Sabot rounds into the wreckage, but stopped when they realized that the burning pile of metal wasn't a transformer, but the remains of an SR-71 Blackbird bomber.

"Oh, shit," General Matthews swore as another Blackbird soared above them, dropping three objects, which unfolded themselves into a mechanical cat, bird and bat. "Fire!" General Matthews shouted, and they all began firing at the three robots, but the two flyers jumped into the air and the cat leaped forward and landed on a soldier, crushing him to death, before jumping up and biting another's throat out. A series of missiles from the Blackbird obliterated the convoy of tanks and missile carriers, and the giant plane transformed into a hulking robot that stood at least forty feet tall. With an ear-shattering shriek, the Decepticon paralyzed the humans, who were quickly eviscerated by the smaller transformers.

"_Excellent work, Ravage, Buzzsaw, Ratbat_," the giant Decepticon shrieked in Cybertronian. "_This is chief communications officer Soundwave, can anyone hear me_?" he broadcasted over the Decepticon communication channels.

"_This is Barricade_," a voice responded on the other end. "_It's about time you got here. Frenzy is happily awaiting your arrival_. "

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Well, that's chapter three. Hope you liked it.

Don't forget to read and review!

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Due to an unwillingness to make up personalities for eight new Decepticons, I'll just give you the name, weapons and alt. mode, and I'll make up the personalities as I go.

Name: Galvatron

Weapons: Several fusion blasters

Alt modes: Cybertronian jet; Cybertronian tank

Name: Soundwave

Weapons: Missile launchers; ultrafrequent sound generators

Alt mode: SR-71 Blackbird

Note: Shares symbiotic link with Ravage, Buzzsaw and Ratbat

Name: Rumble

Weapons: Machine gun hands; seismic wave emitters

Alt mode: Varies

Name: Thundercracker

Weapons: Missile launchers; machine guns

Alt mode: F-22 Raptor jet

Name: Burnout

Weapons: Flamethrowers; high-pressure water jet

Alt mode: Fire engine

Name: Mixmaster

Weapons: Laser blaster; adhesive spray hose

Alt mode: Cement transport truck

Name: Vortex

Weapons: Machine guns; rotor blades

Alt mode: Bell UH-1D Huey helicopter

Name: Incinerator

Weapons: Laser cannons, rotor blades

Alt mode: Bell Helicopter Textron/Boeing Helicopters V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport aircraft


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, things are going to go in a slightly different direction than I originally intended, and I hope that you guys like it.

I don't own Transformers.

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In the outer regions of the Sol system, a large metallic meteor quickly rushed by Neptune, on a course to the third planet from the sun, Earth. The intelligence contained within the meteor was ancient, almost as old as the Allspark itself. And it traveled to Earth with a mission: to continue its eternal destiny; to bring yet another world to its knees; to be made whole again.

------

Bumblebee, Ironhide and Optimus Prime drove up to the razed military base where Soundwave had arrived the night before. As Sam and Lennox climbed out, the three Autobots activated their holographic avatars. Optimus' had the appearance of a rugged man in his fifties with a large dark moustache; Bumblebee had the appearance of a well-groomed man in his thirties; Ironhide's avatar suspiciously resembled Clint Eastwood during his younger years. All of the avatars were dressed in military uniforms to avoid suspicion. When they arrived, the crime scene investigators were already processing the scene. As they approached the CAUTION tape, Lennox held up his identification badge.

"Major Lennox, Private Witwicky, Captains Cullen, Ryan and Harnell. What have you got for us?" Lennox asked.

"Well, we have several destroyed buildings, along with a destroyed SR-71 Blackbird lying in a crater," the CSI recited. "All of the vehicles were destroyed in what seems like a series of missile strikes; we haven't figured out what kind yet. As for the soldiers…" the CSI trailed off as he seemed to pale, "they were ripped apart. We don't know what did it; hopefully the coroner will figure something out." They were shaken by a minor tremor, but no one thought anything of it.

"May we see one of the bodies?" Optimus asked. The CSI seemed to blanch more, but he nodded, and led the small group to a row of body bags. Taking several deep breaths, the CSI closed his eyes and unzipped the bag, revealing the torn mound of flesh and cloth that was once a soldier. Sam and Lennox turned away and tried to suppress their gag reflexes, and even the Autobots recoiled slightly at the damage that had been done to the poor man.

"What do you think, Soundwave?" Ironhide whispered softly to Optimus.

"I believe so," Optimus agreed. "Only he has enough drones to cause this kind of damage to so many people." The Autobots left to observe the wreckage, and their human charges were more than happy to accompany them.

"So, who did this?" Sam asked, trying to erase the image of the eviscerated man from his memory.

"Soundwave," Bumblebee replied. "He is a scientific genius within the Decepticon ranks." He looked over the edge of the crater at the mangled Blackbird wreckage, several large holes blasted into it from the Sabot rounds. "Back on Cybertron, he was the only one with the knowledge to hack into our communications array, so we were constantly altering the coding. He carried a group of smaller Transformers to deal with issues that he was too small to accomplish himself. Three of them contained bestial programming, like Scorponok…" Lennox shuddered at the memory of the scorpion-like Decepticon, "…but he also contained two intelligent units: Frenzy and Rumble. I believe he loaned Frenzy to Barricade sometime before the initial group of Decepticons came hear to retrieve Megatron." The mention of Barricade brought back bad memories of when he was chased by the insane police car look-alike when he had first received Bumblebee.

As Sam and Lennox walked back to their vehicles, a random CSI called for them.

"Sirs! You need to see this!" he yelled. The two humans and three Autobots rushed to one of the laptops, which instead of displaying crime scene information, displayed the head of a robot. It resembled Megatron in appearance, but was dark blue-purple in coloration with five horns protruding from its head like a crown.

"Citizens of Earth," the Decepticon announced in a growling voice similar to Megatron's. "I am Galvatron, leader of the Decepticons. I am here to avenge the death of my father by destroying this pathetic planet, starting with the place where my father fell. Autobots, you have one planetary revolution to mount your defenses, before we begin to annihilate this planet, one city at a time. And Optimus, stop me if you can." The laptop screen filled with static for several seconds, and then displayed its normal information.

"That…was bad," Sam said dumbly. The other four only nodded in response. They climbed back into their respective vehicles and drove back to the Autobot base of operations, dubbed Iacon-1. Once there, Sam let his nerves overwhelm his military training.

"So we've basically got around twenty-four hours to mount a defense against God knows how many Decepticons, and the son of Megatron, _and_ we have don't have an Allspark to get out out of this mess like last time, did I miss anything?" he panicked. All the Autobots shook their heads negatively.

"What's more, we've never seen Galvatron operate on the battlefield, so we have no idea what he's capable of," Ratchet added. "Slag, we don't even know what he transforms into!"

"Yes, which is why we need to lure them out of the city and into a secluded area by any means possible," Optimus said, rubbing his head tiredly. "We were lucky to have so few casualties at Mission City during the last battle there; I doubt that we would be so lucky this time." Sam sighed as he chewed his thumb nervously.

"What am I going to tell Miki?" he muttered. "She can't be a part of this," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"All will be well, Sam," Bumblebee assured. "If things 'go south,' as you humans say, then I will take Mikaela somewhere where she will be safe. I will guard her with my life." Bumblebee lowered his head, and his holographic avatar flickered into being, this time in a black T-shirt and blue jeans. "Sam, may I speak to you alone?" Nodding, Sam and Bumblebee walked into a separate room and closed the door. "Is there something troubling you, Sam?" Bumblebee asked, concern in his eyes. "It seems that there is more on your mind than simply Mikaela's safety." Sam sighed and sat down on a convenient box and held his head in his hands.

"Her birthday is next month," Sam said wearily. Bumblebee nodded; he had memorized every significant date in Sam and Mikaela's lives. "I was going to ask her to marry me," Sam continued. Again, Bumblebee nodded. He had read about marriage on the World Wide Web, and despite the alarmingly high rate of separation, was considered the ultimate declaration of love amongst the human race. Bumblebee slid another box next to Sam and sat down.

"Sam, both as a friend, and as a soldier, I say that you shouldn't wait. I have heard of small, sudden wedding events called 'eloping,' and recommend that you and Mikaela pursue such an action. As much as it pains me to say it, there is a great chance that none of us will leave Mission City alive tomorrow, so you should spend what little time you have left with those you love, and I am sure Major Lennox will do with his family. Just a suggestion," Bumblebee said as he flickered away, leaving Sam alone with his thoughts. Later, when Sam and Lennox were driving home, Sam looked down at the dashboard.

"'Bee, mind pulling over for a second? I need to do something," he asked the yellow Autobot. Bumblebee complied, and gently pulled over onto the side of the road, where Sam climbed out and pulled out his cell phone, ignoring the tremor that he felt. He dialed a few numbers and held the phone to his ear. "Hello, Pastor Johnson? This is Sam Witwicky, can I ask you for a favor?"

------

That night, Sam and Mikaela pulled into the parking lot of the fanciest restaurant in town, which by sheer dumb luck happened to have an opening that night, and Sam and Mikaela climbed out. Even though Sam was composed and cheerful on the outside, inside he was terrified. How could he ask Mikaela to marry him, when he would probably die the next day? How could he hurt her like that? _If you die, you will hurt her either way_, a nagging voice in his head said, _so what difference would it make if you were married or not_? Gulping, Sam ordered the best wine the restaurant had to offer, and soon he and Mikaela were engaged in small talk. As they finished the dessert, however, Mikaela finally broke down.

"What's wrong, Sam?" she asked. "I know that you're hiding something, so what is it? Is it the Decepticons?" she continued nervously. Sam hesitantly nodded his head affirmatively, and he saw tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"There's something else, too," Sam said, and gathering up all his courage, walked up to her and got down on one knee. "Mikaela, you have made the past two years the best years of my life, and I hope that I will live long enough to enjoy it more. But in case I don't, will you marry me?" he asked, holding up a golden ring with three small diamonds. Tears rolling down her cheeks, she nodded her head, and Sam slid the ring onto her finger. After paying for the check, they drove to a small church where Ironhide and the Lennox family were waiting for them, along with the pastor to wed them.

"Do you, Samuel James Witwicky, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, during good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for rich or for poor, until death do you part, so help you God?" the pastor asked while holding a bible in one hand.

"I do," Sam said, holding Mikaela's hands and looking straight into her eyes.

"Do you, Mikaela Joanna Banes, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, during good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for rich or for poor, until death do you part, so help you God?" the pastor asked, turning to Mikaela.

"I do," she choked out, tears continuing to fall down her face.

"Then by the power vested in me by the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, I pronounce you husband and wife. Mister Witwicky, you may kiss your bride." Tears now rolling down his face, Sam leaned to Mikaela, and they shared their first kiss together as husband and wife. Bumblebee drove them home, where they spent an hour consumed in pure, raw passion. When their bodies had been sated, Sam climbed out of bed and began to dress in his combat uniform.

"Sam?" he heard Mikaela call softly. He turned around, and she leaned in to kiss him softly. "Make sure that you come back," she said, taking his hands in hers and laying them on her stomach. "You have two people waiting for you now." Sam gulped nervously as he realized the implications of her statement.

"How long?" he managed to choke out.

"About a month and a half along," Mikaela said. "I've known for a few days now; I've been trying to figure out how to tell you." Sam brought his hands to her face and kissed her.

"I'll try my best," he whispered softly. "I can't make any promises, but I'll try." With a heavy heart, he finished suiting up and saying his final goodbyes to his wife, he went outside to get into Bumblebee, only to find the driver's side door locked.

"Climb into the back and get some rest, Sam," Bumblebee said, popping the backseat door open. "You cannot go as long as we can without recharging, and you will need all the energy you can afford." Without a word, Sam laid down on the backseat and drifted to an uneasy sleep while Bumblebee drove himself to Mission City.

------

Sam sighed as he held his Sabot launcher in his hands. Mission City had been evacuated in record time, so the only damage to the city would be structural, but he couldn't help but feel nervous. The unusual earthquakes that plagued them that morning weren't helping. A distant whining was echoing behind them, and they turned around just in time to see an SR-71 Blackbird, a blue F-22 Raptor jet and an alien jet similar to Megatron's alternate mode rush by them, and a myriad of other vehicles emerge from the surrounding buildings. The various Decepticons transformed into their robot modes, ending with Galvatron himself. He greatly resembled Megatron in appearance, but his coloration was different, he had a slightly different head design and he had two large cannons attached to his arms.

"In a vain attempt to defend the humans, you instead doom yourselves, foolish Autobots!" Galvatron roared, pointing a clawed finger at the Autobots. But before he could continue with his rant, a deep rumbling emanated from above them. They looked up to see a meteor rush down from the sky, striking the ground and skidding to a stop directly between the two factions. When the dust cleared, they saw that it was not a meteorite, but actually a Transformer transition form. For several seconds, it sat silently, until it suddenly sprang to life, parts shifting and melding until it became a protoform no taller than Optimus Prime, but with strange horns on its head.

"Who are you, he who would interrupt our duel?" Galvatron shouted at the newcomer. The protoform turned to Galvatron and responded in a deep, rumbling monotone.

"I…am Unicron."

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I know, the Unicron thing is kind of cliché, but it'll be different, I promise! At least, I think it'll be different.

Don't forget to read and review!


	5. Chapter 5

You know, I could say a lot about the fact that it's been over a month since I've updated, yet I've only gotten two reviews, but I won't.

I don't own Transformers.

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Sam looked up at his Autobot comrades, who were all staring at the newcomer slack-jawed. He also had a feeling that if their weapons weren't part of their bodies, they probably would have been lying on the ground. Sam looked around and saw that the Decepticons were reacting similarly.

The being that called itself Unicron slowly looked at everyone present in turn, making a noise that sounded like sniffing the air. Moments later, it let out a piercing shriek that sent human and Cybertronian alike clutching their heads in pain.

"Allspark!" Unicron roared. "Where is the Allspark?! I can sense it; you reek of its stench, all of you!" Unicron growled as it spread its arms apart. "You befoul my presence. Begone, wretched spawn of the Cube," it snarled before bringing its hands together. As its hands clapped together, a blue shockwave spread out from its hands, engulfing everyone around him. In a flash of light, everyone had disappeared, and Unicron stood alone in the city. "I will take great delight in destroying this planet," it hissed, before spreading its arms out. A giant pale-blue force field expanded from his body, engulfing nearly a mile of the city. The tremors continued to grow in frequency and intensity.

Sam felt a rush of energy pulling at him from all directions. A moment later, Sam found himself and his comrades standing in the middle of the desert. He felt nauseous and immediately fell to his knees, vomiting the remains of the protein bar that had served as his breakfast that morning. Around him, Sam could hear his fellow soldiers following suit.

"What the hell happened?" Lennox gasped as he continued heaving, his stomach now empty.

"Our bodies were converted into energy, and then instantly transported to a new destination," Jetfire said, unaffected by the experience. "Fascinating."

"In English?" Lennox said, standing up unsteadily.

"We were teleported," Optimus said, accessing GPS satellites to ascertain their location. "We are approximately ten miles south from Mission City."

"Teleport?!" Sam exclaimed. "Is that even possible?"

"Not to this extent," Optimus said. "There is one Decepticon with that ability, but he could transport himself no more than a few meters at a time, and used it primarily to commit practical jokes on his comrades." Sam sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair worriedly.

"Okay, new question: Who is Unicron, and why did he make you freeze up like that?" Optimus sighed tiredly as he began his tale.

"Unicron is the ultimate embodiment of darkness and evil in our culture, much like your Satan," Optimus explained. "The myths said that he was a Transformer as big as a planet, who drifted throughout the universe, consuming worlds that he came across. There is no recorded way to defeat him."

"But," Bumblebee continued, trying to inject some optimism into this news, "since he is clearly much smaller than a planet, hopefully defeating him will only require us overpowering him." Sam groaned as he held his head in his hands.

"Great," he said glumly. "We've got the son of Megatron and the Transformer devil running around. I assume that the Decepticons won't point at him instead of us, right?" All the Autobots shook their heads negatively.

"A more reasonable commander would," Optimus said, "but Megatron – and by extension, Galvatron – was far from reasonable. It is far more likely that he would let Unicron destroy all it could until we managed to subdue him, then he would swoop down and destroy us all. No, unless there is a mutiny within the Decepticons, I do not believe we can depend on their assistance."

"Shit," Sam muttered darkly.

Unknown to the Autobots, a mutiny within the Decepticons was very nearly happening.

"This is madness!" Barricade shouted to his superior. "This is suicide! You cannot expect us to just sit idle on this planet while Unicron devours it! It would spell the doom for us all!" The other Decepticons yelled their agreement.

"It is better that Unicron destroys this wretched planet than let the Autobots continue their pathetic existence any long than necessary. I _refuse_ to side with those Autobot scum!" Galvatron ranted. "Oh, and Barricade..." he trailed off, clutching the much smaller scientist by the throat and lifting him up into the air. "_Never_ speak against me again." Releasing his grip on Barricade, Galvatron stomped away, Soundwave loyally following him. _Even Starscream would be better than this_, Barricade thought bitterly as he massaged his sore vocal processor. _At least he knew when to run for help_.

Back at the Autobot base, nearly everybody was sitting nervously. The only one who seemed unaffected was Jetfire, who was currently analyzing a recorded video of Unicron, in an attempt to find some sort of weakness that they could possibly exploit. Ratchet was systematically checking all of the Autobots to ensure that all aspects of their physiology was operating at peak performance, particularly their weapon systems. Mikaela and Lennox's family was taken to the base for protection. Lennox was currently in a corner of the base, holding his wife and young daughter, and Sam was sitting next to Bumblee. Mikaela's head was lying on his lap, resting after a particularly nasty bout of morning sickness.

"'Bee?" Sam whispered, so that he would not wake Mikaela. "Can I ask you something?" The yellow Autobot bowed his head, and his holo-avatar flickered next to Sam, this time dressed in jeans and a yellow shirt.

"What do you need, Sam?" Bumblebee asked.

"I was just curious..." Sam said, hesitating awkwardly, "how are new robots made?" he asked, bowing his head, embarrassed. Bumblebee snickered lightly before answering.

"All sparks contain a very small amount of the life-giving energy that the Allspark contained, so a new spark can be made when two parent sparks combine their energy. However, the initial product looks and acts much like an infant, and it needed time to mature. When the war erupted, we needed a way to generate soldiers quickly, so fully-grown bodies were directly exposed to the Allspark. We were born, given a briefing on current events, and sent to the battlefield. While Autobots value all life, because of the way we were created, we were slightly more expendable. I was one such soldier." Sam's eyes widened slightly. Even though Bumblebee was considered a stock soldier, he would never have considered the yellow robot expendable.

"So," Sam said, trying to change the subject. "Are there any..." Sam trailed off, too embarrassed to finish his question. However, Bumblebee seemed to understand what Sam was trying to say, since he grinned.

"While we are technically genderless, and any two sparks can procreate, as individuals, we tend to gravitate to those whose personalities complement our own. For most, that means a masculine and feminine combination, but there are exceptions. So, to answer your question, yes, there are gay Cybertronians," Bumblebee said, unable to wipe the grin off of his face.

"Okay, changing the subject," Sam said quickly. "Did any of you guys have girlfriends or...whatever when you left?" Bumblebee furrowed his brow as he tried to recall his past.

"I cannot speak for the new arrivals, but from the original crew, Ratchet didn't seem particularly interested in a spark-mate, but one of his assistants seemed rather smitten by him," he said, smiling at the memories. "Jazz was something of a ladies' man. According to the others, he seemed to have had a different femme-bot hanging off his arm every night. I'm fairly sure that Ironhide and Optimus had spark-mates. As for me..." Bumblebee's smile faded as he faltered. "As for me, I was too busy trying to stay alive to court anybody." A ringing brought everyone out of their reverie, as well as waking Mikaela from her nap. Cursing silently, Sam pulled out his cell phone and looked at the caller ID.

"Unknown number?" Sam asked to himself before answering it. "Hello?"

"Is this LadiesMan217, also known as Private Samuel James Witwicky?" a familiar voice growled on the other end of the line. Instead of responding, Sam looked at Optimus and held the phone up to the red-and-blue Autobot.

"It's for you," Sam said, paling. Frowning, Optimus intercepted the cellular signal that Sam's phone was generating.

"This is Optimus Prime, who is speaking?" Optimus said.

"This is Barricade, chief science officer of the Decepticons. I am contacting you to negotiate my surrender."

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Hmm...things are getting interesting.

Don't forget to read and review. And PLEASE give me more than two this time!


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